"Lack of all-rounders is the only weakness I see" - Aakash Chopra feels RR have built a well-rounded squad
Former India opener Aakash Chopra praised the Rajasthan Royals' (RR) recruitment work at the IPL 2022 mega-auction. The franchise roped in some major names after retaining the trio of Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
After acquiring Trent Boult and R. Ashwin from the marquee list, RR followed it up by investing heavily in Devdutt Padikkal and Yuzvendra Chahal. The franchise wrapped up the auction by buying four players in succession in the final round.
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While praising the squad that RR has compiled, Chopra noted the lack of all-rounders among their ranks. The former player said on his YouTube channel:
"The lack of all-rounders is the only weakness I see. Every team has all-rounders in their No. 5, 6 and 7 positions, If they want to play Neesham or Coulter Nile, they will have to bench one of van der Dussen or Hetmyer. Then Karun Nair is an option at No. 5, but I feel No. 6 would be too low for Hetmyer."
Nathan Coulter Nile and Jimmy Neesham were among the last-minute buys at the end of day two of the auction. Daryl Mitchell and Riyan Parag also come in the form of all-rounders but the duo are not proficient when it comes to their bowling.
While admitting that they lack all-rounders, Chopra notes that the team have a formidable unit across both ends of the playing XI. RR made their top order formidable with the acquisition of Devdutt Padikkal and built a whole new bowling attack from scratch. Chopra said:
"I did not think that RR would shop for openers in the auction but they did. RR have a gun top order. That's a huge strength, who will play where is something that is tricky though. But their biggest strength is their bowling. This is a fantastic team. Ending their association with English players helped them, they had a very good auction."
With a solid purse, RR had a busy auction and were in it right till the end to complete their squad.
"I'll be really disappointed if they don't qualify for the playoffs" - Aakash Chopra
With several T20 specialists and experience in their ranks, RR had an auction to remember. Aakash Chopra has high expectations from this squad and believes anything less than a place in the playoffs would be disappointing.
The former player also feels that the RR will have a hard time deciding on the batting positions for their top-order stalwarts. In this regard, Chopra said:
"The threat comes in the form that the batting order might get derailed under pressure. All of the apparent top 4 can open, so that is tricky. If they play players in the wrong position, it may backfire. If their brand of cricket is to play with freedom, then I can see it working. They should back their players. I'll be really disappointed if they don't qualify for the playoffs."
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RR have struggled when it comes to the playoffs in the recent past. The team last qualified for the playoffs in 2018 and has finished either seventh or below since then.